Top Stories from NCPR

Before the catalog orders, before the big tab at the nursery, now is a good time to invest in some good information.Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy suggests gardening workshops, websites to look for, and books to help make better plans for the coming seasons.Horticulturist Amy Ivy is a regular Monday guest on The Eight O'Clock Hour.

State officials are gearing up for another round of public meetings about traffic in Canton and Potsdam. St. Lawrence County's busiest area has been the subject of a $2.5-million study since 2014. Officials say the decades-old idea of an interstate across the North Country will also get another review.

It was a historic weekend in Saranac Lake. The Hotel Saranac, which closed its doors five years ago, reopened with a gala party. Built in in 1927, the building once again includes a pedestrian arcade with shops and a restaurant and a grand ballroom. Local business and political leaders hope the hotel will serve as a cornerstone for downtown businesses.

On Monday the first of a series of federal corruption trials begins for several former associates of Governor Cuomo. The proceedings in the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan will focus on bribery and other charges against Governor Cuomo's former closest aide, Joseph Percoco.

A major thawing and rain last week produced some ice jams on rivers and streams and flooded some low-lying areas. Although many have refrozen or receded, some of those areas remain flooded, and many snow bridges at water crossings have reopened.

The historic Hotel Saranac opened its doors yesterday afternoon in downtown Saranac Lake, a surprise move that thrilled local residents.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing an increase in school aid of over three-quarters of a billion dollars, a rise of about 3 percent over last year, but some say that's not enough to meet school districts' rising costs.

"After a lot of hard work," Clinton County Emergency Services director Eric Day said, crews in Plattsburgh have drained the floodwater out of a mobile home park in the city. Underwood Estates is home to about 200 people. The residents evacuated this week because of an ice jam and flooding on the Saranac River. Now the cleanup begins. On Thursday crews inspected buildings, removed sandbags and dug out roads and driveways, but it'll be a long time before many residents can go home.

St. Lawrence County's new district attorney is closing a four-year-old investigation launched by his predecessor. Former DA Mary Rain said in 2014 she wanted to look into alleged "misconduct and neglect" by county department heads. But nothing came of it.

Even though it's been almost 40 years since Lake Placid hosted the Olympics, the games are still written into the DNA of the village. Local resident Fred Zimny has followed the Winter Olympics all over the world as a coach for USA Luge. And he's always packed his camera.